MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the league is ready to explore adding two more franchises, bringing total membership to 32 teams after completing its build-out to 30 with San Diego's 2025 entry. He offered no market names, no price guidance, and no timeline—just the signal that expansion is back on the menu.
The league paused franchise sales after awarding San Diego in 2023 for a reported $500 million expansion fee, the highest in North American sports history at the time. That put MLS on track to match the NFL's 32-team footprint, a number Garber has referenced before as operationally efficient for scheduling and playoff formats. Now, with the 2026 World Cup approaching and Apple's $2.5 billion broadcast deal generating subscription revenue independent of team count, the financial logic for adding inventory has shifted.
What matters: MLS has never sold expansion rights without a clear market lineup, and Garber's comments arrive as two cities—Sacramento and Las Vegas—circle the league with stadium plans and ownership groups already assembled. Sacramento's Republic FC has a $300 million downtown stadium plan backed by billionaire Ron Burkle, while Las Vegas has floated multiple stadium sites near the Strip with unnamed investor groups. A Casino.org-commissioned study this week ranked Sacramento first among potential expansion markets, which reads like coordinated table-setting given the timing.
The expansion fee math has changed. San Diego paid $500 million in 2023; Charlotte paid $325 million in 2019. If Garber moves in 2025 or 2026, he can point to the World Cup tailwind, Apple's guaranteed revenue stream, and the scarcity premium of final slots to justify $600 million or more per franchise. That's $1.2 billion in fresh capital distributed to existing owners, who each own equity in Soccer United Marketing, the league's commercial arm. For a 30-team league, that's roughly $40 million per existing owner before accounting for dilution—a meaningful bump for investors who entered at $100 million or $200 million expansion fees earlier this decade.
The World Cup window is narrow. FIFA's tournament runs June through July 2026, with matches in 16 U.S. cities. Garber knows that casual fans who watch in Atlanta, Miami, or Los Angeles won't stay engaged without a visible MLS product in their market. Expansion announcements in Q1 or Q2 2025 would let new ownership groups spend 2025-2027 building stadiums and academy infrastructure, targeting a 2028 or 2029 kickoff when the post-World Cup bump is still measurable in ticket demand and local media rights.
What to watch: MLS typically conducts expansion evaluations in 18-24 month cycles, starting with formal applications and ending with Board of Governors votes. If Garber wants teams playing by 2028, formal bids would need to surface by mid-2025. Sacramento's stadium financing closes in Q1 2025, per local reporting. Las Vegas has no formal bid on file but has floated a $1 billion stadium project with unnamed backers. Phoenix, San Antonio, and Indianapolis have all been mentioned in expansion speculation over the past decade, but none currently has a shovel-ready stadium plan or a confirmed ownership group with $600 million in liquidity.
The tell will be whether Garber names markets or waits for cities to bid up. His silence on price and timeline suggests he's waiting to see which ownership groups move first, letting competition set the floor. The league has done this before—Charlotte and Nashville both emerged after informal discussions, not open RFPs. If Sacramento or Las Vegas announces a formal bid in Q1 2025 with a number attached, the other dominoes fall quickly.
The takeaway
Garber floats two expansion slots with no timeline, setting up **$600M+** franchise auctions ahead of the 2026 World Cup window.
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